I am thrilled with this skirt and can see it being worn all year long. Thank goodness I was brave enough to buy enough of this to make a jacket in the fall! The pattern is probably the best fitting pencil skirt I've ever made -- and I've made oodles!

I underlined it with silk organza and lined it with some rayon fabric in my stash.

Other than a tiny tweak below the waist, I made no adjustments. And this fabric does fringe like nobody's business!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Getting Through the Work Week:

The Peplum Top

Even though I work largely out of my home, there are times when I need clothes for business meetings. I need something to wear for this humid south Texas heat. We are all trying to dress for work with the summer weather
in mind. Casual Monday through Friday
would work well for these hot summer months.
But that’s not the way it works.
You still have to dress work appropriate for your specific job, Monday
through Thursday. Here’s an idea that
allows you to be at the top of your dress game at work, while giving that suit
a rest. The pattern for this top is the popular Vogue 8815.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

FINALLY, SOMETHING THAT FITS

This year has been a major turning point for me.For the first time in my life, I could no
longer fit almost ANYTHING in my closet.Even the clothes I had labeled my “clothes for the curvier me” (oh
please, I call those my fat clothes) were straining at the seams to accommodate
my new body.The last thing I want is
to look nasty in my clothes.I don’t
like tight fitting clothes on my body, unless, I’m stepping out on the town,
which rarely ever happens.Still, I
don’t even like those clothes to be too form fitting.

Now I know some of you will look at my picture and say, "What's she talking about? She looks small to me." That's not what this is about. Whatever size clothes I have in my closet, almost NONE OF THEM FIT!! So it doesn't matter what size I WAS, I am no longer that size and I'm in desperate need of something to fit me.

So what’s a girl to do who is about to turn 50, with “the
change” (oh come on, it’s called MENOPAUSE) loudly knocking at my door and
sudden weight gain greeting me every morning?
(Whew, did someone turn on the heater!).
Should I continue to buy ready to wear clothes and strain to make the
new size fit my curvier proportions? I needed to come up with a solution.

Since I don’t sew, why not let someone else help me start
rebuilding the perfect wardrobe that will show off my new figure. That person is my cousin Roz. She took an inventory of my closet deciding
what could stay and what had to go. I told
Roz I still want to be able to wear my pencil skirts, but I don’t want my new
hips and butt pulling the fabric in the front or the back. And I don’t want to have to constantly adjust
the skirt every time I stand up. Roz
assured me that I could still have all of my signature looks, by having my
clothes made to order!

She joked with me that I have always had a love affair with the
three Fs… fabric, fashion and fit. She’s
right.

Now it was time to select some fabric from smfabric.com. I decided to begin my new adventure by having
a pencil skirt made. I scoured the
website and ran across some fabric that made my eyes sparkle with glee. I know I should have probably started with a
staple item for my closet, like a black skirt, but to heck with that. I choose the beautiful spring tweed, made of
cotton/rayon and linen. The fabric has
orange, pink, green, brown and cream and feels so soft to the touch. Roz approved my pick.

She told me I needed a top that would bring balance to my
smaller top and larger bottom. She then
showed mesmfabric.com's Pinterest board, where she found the perfect top to
complement my skirt. Roz has a board for
the hit television show Scandal.
The main character, Olivia Pope wears pieces that mirror my
wardrobe. Knowing my style, Roz
recommended the short sleeved cowl neck top with a little “special something”
on one of the straps.

Roz found a piece of fabric in the smfabric.com archives (uh..
that means her stash) that met her specifications. She wanted a fabric that was soft enough for
the cowl to drape and also dressy enough for work. We got lucky that Roz’s stash included a
coral charmeuse that was PURRR-FECT, as Catwoman would say!!

Now to find my seamstress.
Cynthia Mitchell is so great at her craft. She is meticulous, with an easy personality
and an ability to steer clients in the right direction for their body
types. I wanted to do a little something
different with the hem of the skirt. I
suggested a fringe, but Cynthia’s expertise kicked in and she told me this
might “date” the skirt. Her counter was
to put a binding at the hem of the skirt and to do it on the bias, to make it
really stand out in a “three dimensional manner”. The result, as you can see is a very
beautiful, rich looking skirt that will be the envy of all of my ready to wear
friends! (Contact Cynthia Mitchell at cksmitchell@aol.com)

Cynthia also reworked the cowl on the top several times to give
me the exact look I was going for—not too bulky and show off my clavicle, since
it hasn’t gained any weight so far. I mentioned to Roz that I wanted to narrow the shoulder straps, but she wisely pointed out that narrowing the straps made the top look less business like. But I will have the same top made with narrow straps for a night out on the town.

The end result is a stunning two-piece that I can wear in and
out of the office. In this picture I paired
it with daytime gold sandals. I thought
it added to the richness of the outfit.

Roz will continue to work with me to rebuild my wardrobe for my
new body.Please follow me on this blog,
as we continue the journey to clothe the new me.I’m not running away from 50, hot flashes or
any other challenges.Instead I’m going
to embrace having lived this long, by beating the number 50 at its own game. Thanks to Roz, Cynthia and smfabric.com for
getting me on my way!!